With all the homes we have highlighted over the past couple of weeks, is anyone starting to get the message? It didn't matter what neighborhood code your property was in...it didn't matter the size of your home; how much property you had; what street you lived on; the style of your home...you have been duped into believing that there was a method to the State Reassessment program as it was administered in the Town of New Hartford...in fact, there was NONE!

These 3,000+ homes are scattered throughout all the Neighborhood Codes. Is that due to error? If you feel you are unfairly assessed, now is the time to file a grievance. The assessor's office can provide you with the necessary form.

3 comments:

How do I go about filing a grievance? Do I have to find similar homes in my area that have been assessed for less? Or, can I take the "lower" cost/sqr foot that you've identified and use this as an argument?

The assessor's office has the forms that need to be filled out. Once you fill them out, you need to take the form back to the Assessor's office by the deadline. Then you have the option of making an appointment to discuss your assessment with the Board of Assessment Review, or you can just hand in the completed form and the Board of Assessment Review will look over the information you submit and make a decision.

The Board of Assessment Review uses the same method to decide on cases where they have talked to the property owners as in cases where they do not so it really doesn't matter if you do not appear in person.

If you are not happy with the decision of the Board of Assessment Review, you may then go on to Small Claims. There is a small fee for Small Claims, but you get the fee back if you prove your case.

Unfortunately, because of the way the system works, you will need to find homes similar to yours that are assessed at a lower rate than yours. Although it would be interesting to see what would happen if a large number of people used the homes on our blog to grieve their assessment. It would however, take many people such as there was in 2003 at Tony's in Washington Mills. Clearly, the majority of homes in New Hartford are assessed for more than $40-50 per sq. ft. of living space, but there are some smaller homes that are also getting a "break".

In a day or two, Concerned Citizens will be making available for download Excel spreadsheets giving assessment information for all single family homes. This should make it easy to find out if you are assessed fairly with other like homes.

If anyone has any questions regarding the process, feel free to email us privately at concerned@nhconcernedcitizens.com